Well-Known Member

So, like hypothetically, Iger feeds the Chapek-damning content to Al via Zenia/Porter. Chapek catches wind of this (maybe even formally is told by Iger that he will be taking the fall for GE) so... Chapek reaches out to Gary Snyder (via George K?) as a counter-attack?

What damning content would Iger have to feed? That SWGE underperformed in its first 4 weeks..... I doubt Iger needs us to let Chapek know he isn't happy. This is all about influencing our opinions. I am not sure such speculation has legs, or wouldn't end up accomplishing anything but the creation of another long thread.

The next 90 days will have lots of distractions to change opinion. Disney+ comes on line with a significant revenue stream, 21CF starts to perform (maybe), Disney finally gets rid of the Fox Regional Sports Networks, SWGE comes online in FL, and D23 updates the fandom with a whole bunch of new shinny objects to obsess about.

I would argue, if Chapek wants to survive, or make a run at the CEO role, Iger is not the person he would need to worry about the most. Instead he (we) should be looking at the competition for the seat. Seems to me that 21CF is wildly underperforming on a revenue perspective, and there are all kinds of 21CF execs who want to take the CEO seat. The attacking party would want to shine a light on the poor decisions made about SWGE, Pricing, etc (all Bob, all Parks).... ie.... Don't look at the fact that every Fox movie released this year has bombed, and their brain trust is taking key roles at the Disney mother ship.

As I have said in other posts, I don't think Chapek is long for this role. I don't want him to succeed Iger..... I just think this is an attempt to start a fire in Bob's back yard (or fan the flames of the fire he started) to take people's eyes off of other fires (i.e. 21CF Studio) the company is dealing with.

Well-Known Member

Ok, but I thought half of the article was common knowledge: Lutz was being used by Save Disney, which was being used by Iger to become CEO back in 2005. That part was more or less assumed at the time wasn't it?

The timely part of the expose is re-emergence of Lutz to criticize Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge's short comings. Note the thrust of Al's article wasn't that the whole expansion was a bad idea (sorry Disney Era Star Wars haters). It's that "Chapek cut the good stuff". That's the take away.

So this Snyder article essentially digs up the old Iger-SaveDisney-Lutz assumption, names Porter, and paints Iger/Zenia as the real villains. And - implied - that Iger should get the blame for SW:GE short comings.

Who benefits from this? Chapek, who'd like to have some face saved in case he doesn't present at D23 and as he negotiates for some role at a different company.

The article is making the claim that Al Lutz, Disney blogger, stopped writing his own articles in the early 2000s, and posted what he was given by a person named Troy Porter, who goes by TP2000 on various boards, at the behest of now Disney Chief Communications Officer Zenia Mucha with the initial goal being to include spin and leaks to undermine remaining faith in Eisner's ability to lead the company, and has continued on for years, influencing fan opinions.

replace 'al lutz' with any up front Disney personality you want.. and read the story that way. The important parts of the story remain the same. Pretend it was JimHill, RickyB or whomever you want... the individual personality is important in the sense of how much sway and the audience he had... but if you're not familar with the person, just substitute another. The importance of the story reads the same. The identity of the puppet is only as important as how much of an audience they had.

Well-Known Member

The lid’s been blown off. This isn’t a tin foil hat convention. This is real, and now we know why a certain Spirit would regularly refer to “Zenia and her flying monkeys” controlling the online dialogue.

Edit: We know Disney monitors fan forums, but we also know they use it as a free focus group. I don’t think anyone in the C-Suite cares about individual opinions in forums. They do care about whether one man at one website gains widespread fame.

But why talk about this years after the Save Disney campaign? Why wait such a long time, and apparently bungle facts about other people? These are the confusing questions.

Well-Known Member

Ok, but I thought half of the article was common knowledge: Lutz was being used by Save Disney, which was being used by Iger to become CEO back in 2005. That part was more or less assumed at the time wasn't it?

The timely part of the expose is re-emergence of Lutz to criticize Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge's short comings. Note the thrust of his article wasn't that the whole expansion was a bad idea (sorry Disney Era Star Wars haters). It's that "Chapek cut the good stuff". That's the take away.

So this article essentially digs up the old Iger-SaveDisney-Lutz assumption, names Porter, and paints Iger/Zenia as the real villains.

Who benefits from this? Chapek, who'd like to have some face saved in case he doesn't present at D23 and as he negotiates for some role at a different company.

Well-Known Member

Ok, but I thought half of the article was common knowledge: Lutz was being used by Save Disney, which was being used by Iger to become CEO back in 2005. That part was more or less assumed at the time wasn't it?

Dunno.. I don't recall Iger as being painted as an aggressor in that battle... but more being tapped on the shoulder. But I wasn't online active around Disney while that was real-time... going on recaps and retellings myself.

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

The lid’s been blown off. This isn’t a tin foil hat convention. This is real, and now we know why a certain Spirit would regularly refer to “Zenia and her flying monkeys” controlling the online dialogue.

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Ok, but I thought half of the article was common knowledge: Lutz was being used by Save Disney, which was being used by Iger to become CEO back in 2005. That part was more or less assumed at the time wasn't it?

The timely part of the expose is re-emergence of Lutz to criticize Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge's short comings. Note the thrust of his article wasn't that the whole expansion was a bad idea (sorry Disney Era Star Wars haters). It's that "Chapek cut the good stuff". That's the take away.

So this article essentially digs up the old Iger-SaveDisney-Lutz assumption, names Porter, and paints Iger/Zenia as the real villains. And perhaps implied, that Iger should get the blame for SW:GE short comings.

Who benefits from this? Chapek, who'd like to have some face saved in case he doesn't present at D23 and as he negotiates for some role at a different company.

A naughty bit o' crumpet

The lid’s been blown off. This isn’t a tin foil hat convention. This is real, and now we know why a certain Spirit would regularly refer to “Zenia and her flying monkeys” controlling the online dialogue.